Drained chassis battery

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 02:41 AM

Hello!

I could use your help, please. I'm a new Thor Windsport owner. Picked RV up at dealer, drove 1.5 hrs to RV park. On 50amp shore power overnight. Started up the next morning, drove 8 hrs to home. Now, 2 problems:

1) tried to plug into 30amp shore power with no load, keeps tripping the breaker immediately. What am I doing wrong? Or what do I need to check?

2) Chassis battery is at 3.7v. Can't start the RV. What could possibly have drained it? And how do I rectify?

Thank you so much!
smlmicky

kwplot34 · 08-04-2021, 02:47 AM

Which breaker? House breaker, RV breaker?

Beau388 · 08-04-2021, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlmicky

Hello!

I could use your help, please. I'm a new Thor Windsport owner. Picked RV up at dealer, drove 1.5 hrs to RV park. On 50amp shore power overnight. Started up the next morning, drove 8 hrs to home. Now, 2 problems:

1) tried to plug into 30amp shore power with no load, keeps tripping the breaker immediately. What am I doing wrong? Or what do I need to check?

2) Chassis battery is at 3.7v. Can't start the RV. What could possibly have drained it? And how do I rectify?

Thank you so much!
smlmicky

I would guess you have a bad dog bone or 50 to 30 amp adapter. Turn off all 120 volt circuit breakers in the coach and see if the shore line circuit breaker holds. I would guess it does not. If the chassis battery is dead (below 11.0 volts), you can use the emergency start to start the engine. Read up on it before you try it.
Everything in the front cap (drivers compartment) is powered by the chassis battery except the radio. (Map lights, defroster fans, power ports, etc, as well as, Ford stuff - head lights, running lights, ignition, etc.) It is easy to turn a switch on when getting out of the seats.

dkoldman · 08-04-2021, 04:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlmicky

Hello!

I could use your help, please. I'm a new Thor Windsport owner. Picked RV up at dealer, drove 1.5 hrs to RV park. On 50amp shore power overnight. Started up the next morning, drove 8 hrs to home. Now, 2 problems:

1) tried to plug into 30amp shore power with no load, keeps tripping the breaker immediately. What am I doing wrong? Or what do I need to check?

Who's 30amp shorepower? Have you evert used it before? Can you put voltmeter on panel to verify 120vac? Also do you have a Southwire Surge protector / EMS? It will confirm the incoming power for you.

2) Chassis battery is at 3.7v. Can't start the RV. What could possibly have drained it? And how do I rectify? My money says the lights were left on

Thank you so much!
smlmicky

Congratulations on new RV. What Model and Year?

HMCSW · 08-04-2021, 04:14 AM

Can't imagine why would drain chassis batteries other than having something on the chassis on. Pretty sure shore power only charges the house batteries. But someone else can confirm or correct.

Bob Denman · 08-04-2021, 11:49 AM

Since I know as much about electricity as hogs do about the Sabbath I'll just say "Welcome to the Forum"!

And good luck!

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwplot34

Which breaker? House breaker, RV breaker?

House breaker, not RV. Have been using it with previous RV for 10 yrs.

paulwadley · 08-04-2021, 12:44 PM

Since you are home, you could put the chassis battery on a charger to bring it back up to the proper voltage. Check to be sure you left nothing on inside the cab. Unplug everything inside the cab that is plugged into the cigarette lighter and/or USB port(s). They still draw a current even if your device(s) are not attached to them.

Paul

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beau388

I would guess you have a bad dog bone or 50 to 30 amp adapter. Turn off all 120 volt circuit breakers in the coach and see if the shore line circuit breaker holds. I would guess it does not. If the chassis battery is dead (below 11.0 volts), you can use the emergency start to start the engine. Read up on it before you try it.
Everything in the front cap (drivers compartment) is powered by the chassis battery except the radio. (Map lights, defroster fans, power ports, etc, as well as, Ford stuff - head lights, running lights, ignition, etc.) It is easy to turn a switch on when getting out of the seats.

Thanks for the response! I'll check the dogbone. It's brand new, but I'm hoping this is the problem! Re: the chassis battery, I'll recheck all dash switches. Also hoping a switch in the "on" position (difficult to tell sometimes) is the problem, as this will be an easy fix, too.

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkoldman

Congratulations on new RV. What Model and Year?

Thanks for your response! The breaker is my house's 30amp breaker that we installed specifically for an RV. It was good over the past 10 yrs with my previous RV (30 amps), and also functioned well with a recent friend visiting with a 50 amp RV. Hoping it's the dogbone. Also hoping you're correct in that I left a switch on in the cab that drained the battery. Easy fix. New RV is the 2021 Thor Windsport 34R. Love the configuration!!!

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMCSW

Can't imagine why would drain chassis batteries other than having something on the chassis on. Pretty sure shore power only charges the house batteries. But someone else can confirm or correct.

Thanks for the reply! I'm hoping you're right! Easy fix.

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulwadley

Since you are home, you could put the chassis battery on a charger to bring it back up to the proper voltage. Check to be sure you left nothing on inside the cab. Unplug everything inside the cab that is plugged into the cigarette lighter and/or USB port(s). They still draw a current even if your device(s) are not attached to them.

Paul

Thank you. This is exactly what I'm doing.

paulwadley · 08-04-2021, 02:46 PM

Good luck

Paul

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlmicky

Hello!

I could use your help, please. I'm a new Thor Windsport owner. Picked RV up at dealer, drove 1.5 hrs to RV park. On 50amp shore power overnight. Started up the next morning, drove 8 hrs to home. Now, 2 problems:

1) tried to plug into 30amp shore power with no load, keeps tripping the breaker immediately. What am I doing wrong? Or what do I need to check?

2) Chassis battery is at 3.7v. Can't start the RV. What could possibly have drained it? And how do I rectify?

Thank you so much!
smlmicky

Efforts to this point:

1) Tested dogbone with multimeter (tested resistance) and all appears good. However, also tested by stopping all 120 volt circuit breakers (via main breaker), and 30 amp house breaker immediately tripped again. So, as Beau388 suggested, I'm thinking the dogbone is bad.

2) Thinking I drained the chassis battery with dash switch left on. However, I can't get into the engine compartment with supplied keys to recharge battery!!! Damn! Guess I'll use the emergency start this time (turning off the 12volt DC first). Any tricks to enter the engine compartment on Thor Windsport? Afraid I'll break the keys if I try any harder! Suggestions on how long I need to run the RV to recharge before stopping the engine?

HMCSW · 08-04-2021, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlmicky

Efforts to this point:

1) Tested dogbone with voltmeter (tested resistance) and all appears good. However, also tested by stopping all 120 volt circuit breakers (via main breaker), and 30 amp house breaker immediately tripped again. So, as Beau388 suggested, I'm thinking the dogbone is bad.

2) Thinking I drained the chassis battery with dash switch left on. However, I can't get into the engine compartment with supplied keys to recharge battery!!! Damn! Guess I'll use the emergency start this time (turning off the 12volt DC first). Any tricks to enter the engine compartment on Thor Windsport? Afraid I'll break the keys if I try any harder! Suggestions on how long I need to run the RV to recharge before stopping the engine?

Would be best to drive around for 10-20 minutes

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMCSW

Would be best to drive around for 10-20 minutes

Thanks!

dkoldman · 08-04-2021, 08:43 PM

Somebody please tell me that Thor Motor Coach has feature to allow the Converter to charge the Chassis battery on a new 2021 Windsport 34R

OP,

Have you tried to buy or use a 15/20 - 50 Amp dogbone ? You could use a good heavy duty extension cord or plug into garage.

Also, buy one of these and you will never NOT know what is wrong.
https://www.campingworld.com/southwi...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

I may take gripe for this view, but I would never have any need to ever connect a 3rd party charger to my Chassis or House batteries. That is what the Converter is for.

Beau388 · 08-04-2021, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlmicky

Efforts to this point:{snip}
2) Thinking I drained the chassis battery with dash switch left on. However, I can't get into the engine compartment with supplied keys to recharge battery!!! Damn! Guess I'll use the emergency start this time (turning off the 12volt DC first). Any tricks to enter the engine compartment on Thor Windsport? Afraid I'll break the keys if I try any harder! Suggestions on how long I need to run the RV to recharge before stopping the engine?

Take you shoulder and push hard on the hood next to the latch while turning the key. Also make sure your coach is level before trying to open the hood. Usually this is not necessary but sometimes helps. My hold open air supports are so weak that now I can just use one hand to push on the hood while turning the key.

At idle, the Ford alternator will produce about 30 amps usable. If it is the typical Motorcraft battery, it has a rating of about 65 amp hours, so I would say a minim of 2 hours. That should give you an 80% charge - if the battery will accept it. Leaving a LA battery discharged for more than a couple hours will seriously degrade its ability to take a charge.

dkoldman · 08-04-2021, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beau388

Take you shoulder and push hard on the hood next to the latch while turning the key. Also make sure your coach is level before trying to open the hood. Usually this is not necessary but sometimes helps. My hold open air supports are so weak that now I can just use one hand to push on the hood while turning the key.

What a strange use of an engineered applications, but hey; if it works

I can see NASA telling Astronauts the same thing if they have trouble opening a Capsule door on the moon

smlmicky · 08-04-2021, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkoldman

Somebody please tell me that Thor Motor Coach has feature to allow the Converter to charge the Chassis battery on a new 2021 Windsport 34R

OP,

Have you tried to buy or use a 15/20 - 50 Amp dogbone ? You could use a good heavy duty extension cord or plug into garage.

Also, buy one of these and you will never NOT know what is wrong.
https://www.campingworld.com/southwi...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

I may take gripe for his view, but I would never have any need to ever connect 3rd party charger to my Chassis or House batteries. That is what the Converter is for.

Thanks. My southwire surge protector is inbound. Ordered a few days ago.

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